The Dallas Mavericks have signed a five-year deal with Gameday Entertainment to manage the team’s merchandise operation.

The deal covers four fan shops at American Airlines Center, arena kiosks, a mall store in Dallas and online sales at mavgear.com.

The Mavericks previously ran retail in-house in conjunction with Center Operating Co., the joint venture of the Mavs and NHL Stars that manages the arena.

The deal includes oversight of four American Airlines Center fan shops. Photo by: STEPHANIE ALEXANDER

Center Operating Co. will continue to operate arena retail locations during Mavericks games under Gameday’s supervision, said Alan Fey, Gameday’s president. Gameday will purchase and manage the flow of merchandise, Fey said.

The Mavericks’ 2011 NBA championship run gave the club a big boost in merchandise revenue. As of last week, the Mavs ranked seventh among NBA teams in merchandise sales, according to NBA.com. In April, two months before they won the NBA title, the Mavericks were not listed in the top 10, according to local reports. In addition, the Mavericks’ NBA Champions Collection is ranked No. 1 on the list of top NBA products, and Mavs forward Dirk Nowitzki’s No. 41 uniform is ranked third among the league’s top-selling player jerseys.

Mavericks owner Mark Cuban did not return an email asking him about the team’s decision to outsource its merchandise.

The Mavericks are Denver-based Gameday’s fourth NBA client. The vendor also has deals with Memphis, Oklahoma City and Phoenix as well as handling merchandise for the NBA All-Star Game.

All told, NBA merchandise generates more than $3 billion in sales worldwide.

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